SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Men's Basketball team lost to Cuesta in their opening conference game on Wednesday night, 74-54.
"We had a tough time scoring tonight," head coach Devin Engebretsen said. "Injuries continue to rack up, but at the same time, we have to have that 'next man up' mentality."
The Vaqueros fell behind early, facing a 21-9 deficit less than 8 minutes into the game. Later being down as much as 15, though, the Vaqueros went on a 12-2 run over a 7-minute span towards the end of the half. After 2 Cuesta free throws late, the score was a manageable 36-29 at halftime.
William Pace made a couple layups out of the break, and SBCC shrunk Cuesta's lead to 36-33, but that would be the closest the score would be the rest of the night. Cuesta went on a 14-2 run themselves, taking a 50-35 lead with 12 minutes remaining. The Vaqueros would hit a few threes to cut the deficit to 9 with 3:30 remaining, but Cuesta would eventually pull away via layups and free throws to the final of 74-54.
Shooting was the main difference between the teams, as the Vaqueros limited turnovers and were competitive in rebounding, but only shot 37% from the field and 27% from three.
"We just need to execute our sets better, … attack the rim more and try to create layup and free throw opportunities," Engebretsen added.
William Pace led the team in points with 16, shooting 6 for 10 from the field. He also led in rebounds with 11, including 6 offensive rebounds, adding to his 2 steals.
Ethan Boness led the bench in points with 14, and Isaiah Hicks had 14 as well.
"We really need to key in on playing super hard to make up for any kind of lacking of personnel. If you don't have a full squad the little intangibles really matter," Engebretsen concluded. "Hopefully moving forward we can make some more shots--that'll help."
The Vaqueros look to turn the page at Moorpark, who beat Pierce to open their conference schedule, this Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM.
